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look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. welcome to "newsroom international" "newsroom international." i'm ashleigh banfield in for suzanne malveaux and we are taking you around the world in 60 minutes. let me start with what is going on. just when you think it can't get

worse, or any worse, for lance armstrong, the beatdown bike hear been stripped of his olympic medal. also, grounded. aviation authorities around the world are taking a hard look at the boeing 787 dreamliner. but first, new developments in the hostage crisis that's unfolding in algeria where americans are among those being held by islamist extremists at an oil field. we just got confirmation that a u.s. drone unmanned has flown over the site. plus, we're getting reports that four of the hostages have been freed in an operation by the algerian army and the irish have said a fifth irish national also has been freed. this operation is said to be ongoing and vladimir joins us from nigeria. what can you tell us about what's happening? it seems there are a discrepancy of reports coming fast and furious? >> reporter: right, ashleigh. the situation is very murky,

very, very fluid and cnn can't independently verify some of the reporting taking place, but here's what's reported thus far. on wednesday a group of foreign national, gas workers from the inamina field were on their way to work. attacked by militants in three vehicles. those militants during the ensuing battle killed a briton and algerian, took them back to the gas plant, held them hostage, where the situation has been up to now. we've heard conflicting reports, unconfirmed reports, that there was an ongoing attack by helicopters, which the algerian press service said was absolute fantasy. we've heard, also, that, as you mentioned in your lead, four of the hostages have been freed. two britons, a french person and kenyan. in addition to that, an irish person has been freed. we don't really know, really, how much hostages there are. we've heard as low as 20 from the algerian state media and as

high as 40 from the militants. so a very, very fluid situation. one that, you know, we're monitoring as the hours go by, but really don't have a whole lot to report, because we just don't have any eyes on the ground as of now, ashleigh. >> vladimir, i know this is extremely complex as to why this is happening and what the militants are demanding. i should let our audience know that these militants are thought to be associates of al qaeda but what effectively do they want? >> reporter: well, ashleigh, they said, what they've said is that this is in retaliation for the french military intervention next door in mali. they say they threatened the al qaeda and islamic megrememb pme allowing to use airspace. others say this operation seems

to be sophisticated. looks like it took a lot of plans to cute. they obviously knew what they were doing. it probably wasn't something that happened spontaneously because of the decision for the french to use their airspace. conflicting, unconfirmed reports what exactly is the reason for this. but they've said this is because algeria allowed us to use their airspace and military intervention against islamists in mali. and my colleague joins us on this. halla, vladimir was talking about the situation in mali and how the associates of this al qaeda wing are at least claiming that this has a lot to do with the french military operation in mali, which is on the map to the left and south. explain to the viewers, if they don't already know, what the situation sand why it's so critical in mali and how it effects the three neighbors countries, in fact.

>> just to give you a snap schosnapshat what we're talking about, militants ta operate more or less irndependently, like the group claiming the attack on the gas platform or the group islam ist magreb operating in the desert regions of algeria, libya, mali's these groups make money by smuggling things, such as cigarettes. by smuggling refugees, but, also, by demanding ransom for kidnappings, for instance, kidnapping a french tourist only last november, and a british tourist killed in 2009. so these are activities that have been ongoing over the last several year, but ashleigh, what our viewers need to remember is, these groups operate in areas where there is no central government control. you're talking about countries such as libya that have gone

through their revolutions, but in algeria, for instance, this is a huge portion of the sahara desert. you don't have local authority there. you don't have security forces there. these al qaeda militants are able to operate with impunity and make a lot of. with these criminal operations. >> to give the primmer on mali, for those who follow developments there, this has been an extraordinary year for that country. effectively. you'll have to correct me if i'm wrong here, effectively the northern part of mali is completely out of the control of what should be the central government and is effectively in control of al qaeda-associated militan militants? >> right. and why did the french come in now into mali? you might wonder why a country like france would send hundreds and soon thousands of ground troops to that country to try to battle islamist rebels when this is the kind of operation that could end up costing france quite a lot, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of

troops. the reason is, because in the northern part of mali, with the help of the tuareg, they've gotten closer saying this is not worth the risk. we cannot have these islamist militants take over a country like mali. cannot have this entire region rulealed by these rebels. this is why france is going in. this is why the u.s. is saying we'll provide you with logistical help and the same for other european and african countries as well. this is a regional battle. >> why just france? why not germany and others with a stake in this? why is france only taking the lead here? >> because along with other countries, france has economic interests in that part of the world. this is an ex french colony. that part of the world was under french colonial rule and they believe it's in their natural

self-interest to protect the government of mali and the central government of mali from being taken over by these islamist rebels, but other european countries are concerned as well. this turned into a regional issue and the risk as well, you may have militants who see france as a legitimate target. we've seen it with this gas platform kidnapping operation, for instance, and try to strike targets inside of france itself. french authorities of very well aware of this risk. >> hala gorani, excellent work. thank you for that. great background from hala. switching to a talented young football star to tragically lost her grandmother and girlfriend on the very same day, but persevered and led his team to victory anyway. wrap a story. right? only problem is, it's just that. a story. the girlfriend, part of an elaborate hoax that didn't even exist. the latest on a mysterious and bizarre story unfolding at notre dame.

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast! [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. you've never used your own blood for doping purposes, for example? >> absolutely -- that would be banned. >> okay. >> i'm not trying to agitate you. just making sure the testimony is clear. >> okay. >> okay? >> he was pretty clear. wasn't it? remember that seven years ago. actually more than seven years ago, lance armstrong denying outright that he doech doped hi or did anything wrong by the rules of his sport. we knee pretty much wasn't true. he just wasn't telling the truth. something else. look at this picture. lance armstrong proudly

displaying his olympic bronze medal won in the 2000 sydney games. take a good, long look at it. those two will be separated. today the ioc stripped away that medal and the title that went along with it and told lance armstrong, send it back. physically. we want our medal back. this is the latest fallout from armstrong's alleged involvement with sports doping, and cheating. big-time cheating that he apparently has told to oprah winfrey. all of it supposedly going to air tonight. cannot wait. but it begs the question, has cheating become commonplace? today at 3:00 eastern, my colleague brooke baldwin will examine why we cheat. the psychology, the science, all of that. don't miss the "cnn newsroom" special report this afternoon at 3:00 eastern. and now, today's other headline, and it is also a sport story, and it is also very bizarre. a little confusing. trust me, a lot of us shaking our heads about it, too, and we don't even have the, the full

story. it's about this guy. superstar of the notre dame fighting irish football program. this name is manti te'o, heisman runner-up, rock star linebacker. the last three years of his love life sound a little like a cheesy romantic comedy. all that time, three years. looks like he's been involved in an elaborate story of love, lies and heartbreaking loss. even told reporters about the tragic loss of the love of his life, quote/unquote, and her inspiration that drove him to win on the football field. heren the thing. it's all hogwash. turns out there's no girlfriend. no. there was no tragic and inspiring death of said girlfriend in respect was nothing. this whole thing was made up. supposedly. and i've got someone in here to help me make heads or tails of this strange and still developing story. dave zirin, sports editor for "the nation." a weekly sports columnist. as i report the story throughout the day, i feel like i have to

keep asking if i still have it right, dave, because things continue to change. stranger developments happen, and people are even starting to say maybe she did exist after all. can you just qualify all of this for 345me? >> maybe she did exist, but we have to put "she" in quotes. covering sports ten year, covered my stories more tragic and heartfelt but never anything more bizarre than the manti te'o and his virtual girlfriend story. first for you who may not be sports fans, why do we even care about this? the story of manti te'o's girlfriend dying of lee keepia and coming within one game of the national championship was one of the main threats of the college football season this past year. something related to "sports illustrated." espn, the "new york times," i mean, people even set up charities to give money to cancer in her name. and she never existed. throughout it all manti te'o gave interviews where, with a crack in his throat and a tear

in his eye he spoke about his girlfriend who passed away. now we know she most likely never existed, and this leaves us with only two possibilities. either manti te'o was a victim of a hoax, the likes of which would make david mamet blush, and followed it three years and he was foomed into thinks he was in a loving relationship for threes years wi s with someone didn't exist or he was part of this meuse. unknowningly by most of the sports media and leads to speculation, why is that? people have come forward anonymously saying he was doing it to build his chances to win the heisman trophy. give himself a tragic back story. other raising it to shield his personal life. people would leave him alone if he had a mysterious girlfriend.

the sad part, in the middle of it all, this 22-year-old who i think is probably having the worst day of his life today, and clearly caught up in something that spun out of control. >> okay. so that 22-year-old gave interviews in which he was quoted as having said, i met her, i touched her hand. his own father said that this woman used to go to hawaii, meet with them. they'd spend time together. those are interviews that were given. they weren't guesses made by journalists. >> right. >> look, if it's true that he had a three-year virtual relationship in which he never met this girl and he truly has been duped, and he is devastated, why would he say those things? and how is he going to accommodate for them? >> he needs to be able to answer that question. i certainly don't have an answer to that question. i'm tempted to say that this is somebody who probably needs a great deal of theronapy. it's very difficult to -- actually a little sickening and upsetting to hear the interviews that he did. i was going back into the audio vault last night listening to

the interviews he gave about her. you would have to accept he would have a three-year relationship where he was in love with a woman who didn't exist and the nursed this virtual woman through leukemia. through first of all a devastating car accident, where they discovered she had leukemia. stories told how they would stay on the phone eight straight hours while he would sleep because she could hear him sleep because it eased her pain. either he was part of an insane hoax or he was part of this radi roos. where it becomes -- four square, in his favor, notre dame. manti te'o is a great person who was fooled. he's most trusting person in the world and we stand with him 1,000%. they left themselves no wiggle room on this and that's going to become a story in itself because

notre dame has a lot to answer for there have been tragedies connected to the football team. rampant sexual assault and no internal investigations about, and the yet manti te'o, here we go. >> what about external? i mean, i could cite all sorts of different laws in which criminal behavior could have actually been tracked, if this woman had ever asked for a penny from him for treatment. if she had ever asked or encouraged him to raise money. those are crimes. and that's something the police can get involved, and police can triangulate cell phone signals and go after i.p. addresses and find you in a nanosecond, oh where is all of that? >> it's coming. if not, outside private investigations as well. manti te'o just graduated. slated for a top ten draft pick. a $10 million to $20 million investment worth over $1

billion. they do due diligence on players who aren't involved in the most bizarre sports story of the last 25 years. you better believe they're going to dig up every last aspect of this young man's personal life to find out what he did and why he did it, and the story is only going to get more strange as we go down the rabbit hole, i believe. >> you know, i asked the famed sports, the legendary sports agent leigh steinberg in the last hour if this young man's draft stock has gone down. if he's actually damaged his chances, even though it has nothing to doing with his athleticism. what do you think? >> i don't know what mr. steinberg said. i would certainly say, yes, and it has to do with manti te'o's position on the field. he's a middle linebacker. for viewers who been football fans, that's like the quarterback of the defense. it relies as much on trust and leadership skills as it does on physical ability. the idea that a team would say,

you're our middle linebacker, you're our quarterback on the defense, but, by the way, maybe half your teammates think you might have serious issues that need to be dealt with, and that you might not be an honest person, that will hang over him, even if he ferociously sticks and notre dame ferociously sticks to the story that he was the victim of a three-year hoax, but i've got to tell you. there's going to be a lot of drip, drip, drip out of notre dame on this. you're already beginning to hear it. former players, former teammates, asking questions. and it's really sad. >> yeah. tell you what, leigh steinberger agrees. a big brand. a package deal is a package deal. hope we can get more information out of this but soon. thank you. more bad news ahead for boeing. the 787 dreamliners on the ground. all around the world, in fact. and the reason -- safety. your safety. we'll explain.

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countries around the world are following the lead of the united states and japan and they're grounding all of these planes as beautiful as they are. they're not in the air. the 787 dreamliners. the faa says they will not be allowed back up into the sky until a fire risk linked to battery failures is fixed. a luook at all airlines around the world pulling 787s from their service. the groundings aren't just having a financial impact on the airlines, either.

hard to read that graphic, although it looks like a whole lot of planes. the market is also being heavily affected by this. sandra endo joins us live from washington. give me a feel for boeing stock? how bad is this news for boeing? >> reporter: ashleigh, it's certainly taking a hit. the shares fell 2% today. 3.2% yesterday. and in terms of boeing, this is a huge black eye for the company in terms of p.r. for its marquee plane. the company and 787 operators now have to prove to the faa that the lithium batteries on these dreamliners are safe, and in compliance with standards. and just to give you context here, ashleigh, the faa has never mandated grounding a fleet of planes since 1979. >> wow. so this is really significant. and when you just mentioned that this is the -- i hate to say it's the cadillac of the fleet,

because it is so much more than that. i mean, this is really one of the sweetest aircraft out there. it is technologically superior to so many other, but isn't that effectively part of the problem? because all of that technology requires a lot of battery pow around the batteries are what are causing the problem? >> reporter: it's definitely high-tech, ashleigh and definitely new technology never used before. these lithium ion batteries in commercial airliners to this capacity. these batteries are lighter, smaller, more powerful and, of course, now the concern is possible overer heating. boeing actually had to get special permission from the faa to use these batteries, and it was only approved under the condition that it would install specific safety measures to address these potential problems. >> i've got just the news here, boeing stock apparently is flat right now, but that's the least of their problems. they've got this whole public story while they look at their bart charts and also have to deal with how they react to this news. what's are you hearing from the

company? >> reporter: well, boeing is certainly defending their advance plane anden in a statement it says that, we are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity. we will be making every necessary step in the coming days to assure our customers and the traveling public of the 787's safety and to return the airplanes to service. ashleigh? >> sandra endo reporting for us live. thank you for that. the president laid out his plan and made it real, real clear. gun control, all going down yesterday. and i asked new york's police commissioner ray kelly if he thinks the new rules are going to make any difference. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! and save hundreds with our best offer.

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well, president obama has made no secret. he wants to do sothing about gun violence, and he stood before the country yesterday with a concrete set of proposals. some of them executive actions, some of them some work that congress is going to have to do, but many of the things he talked about still leave a lot of questions unanswered, and my next guest has a lot of those answers, and is still trying to work through some as well. he's new york's police commissioner ray kelly. thanks very much for coming in. i know you were in d.c. for the event yesterday, and i'm sure you're still getting your head around a lot of what's been, it seems, put together in warp speed time. but just from what you do know, your reaction to the president's actions? >> my reactions, certainly positive. i think it's something that has been overdue. certainly mayor bloomberg has led the charge, so to speak, in this area, and the president, i think, in essence supported everything that the mayor has

put forward. >> one of the big criticisms is that while assault-styled weapons sound terribly menacing and some of the big news items include actions like newtown, bush bushmaster 223 and the bigger problem is actually handgun violence. and what happened yesterday does not dlaconcern you? >> that is the major problem, for urban police in these days. concealable handguns. even so, i think what happened yesterday is a move in the right direction, and, also, the background check for all weapons exchanges or all sales, i think can, at least has the potential, of reducing some handgun violence. i mean, there's no easy answer here. there's no magic bullet. it's complex. no question about it. >> and by the way, it's hard to even determine what constitutes an assault weapon.

it used to be defined by law, from 1994 to 2004 under that ban. it's no longer defined by law yet. but what will an assault weapons ban actually ban? >> well, we're going to see what congress comes forward with. in 1994 there were 19 specific types of weapons, or 19 specific weapons, and a broader definition. it had, it was able to take the -- the -- bayonet, stud, a folding stock, those sorts of things were incorporated in the definition. really, weapons of war, and i think part of the 1994 ban just had to do with the sort of cosmetics of people who were frightened by the look of these weapons. whether or not that remains, i think it's one of the challenges for congress to put a reasonable definition together. >> and then when the president seeks to make, you know, access to mental health better, and also the sharing of mental health data more ubiquitous,

doesn't that also open an extraordinary can of worms in terms of privacy issues? for instance, if i want to go to see psychiatrist and i have suicidal thoughts, i could end up in a federal registry? >> it's an issue and a challenge. again, we'll see what cong core comes up with. one in five people supposedly have some sort of mental issues in this country. do they go into the database? what is the criteria? >> isn't it irony, commissioner, if that is actually how we're going to expand the definition of those who need to be reported, well, they're just not going to go. i mean, they're not going to the doctor and hence we're driving more of those people underground and making them harder to track. >> in general, what the president did, with his executive orders yesterday, was to require first, federal agencies to put more information into the database. just a lot of information in the federal government that's not available in the database.

the n.i.b.c.s. and requiring other governmental, state agencies to put information, which i think is a good thing, but your concern as privacy is, i think, a real one. >> very, very complex how they'll get around this respecting privacy rights. it's in the constitution but privacy a big issue for the country. lastly, a number of people, i won't say of your ilk, but in law enforcement, county sheriffs around the country saying we're just not going to follow what the president's laws are. we're not going to enforce them. what do you make of that and how do you react to your counter parts that say that? >> it's federal law,io owioubvi enforced -- i assume most share of the will follow the law -- >> how about confiscation?

report to law enforcement and they're supposed to confiscate them. if the sheriffs say, that's a seconds amendment infraction. not going to do it. >> that's down the road. we need a piece of legislation that passes and see. we can't predict. >> you have a lot to read. we're sorting through this. hope you can come back and we can dig through this as we learn about what the new congress' measures will contain. thank you, mr. kelly. good to see you. commissioner kel he has b e working with mayor bloomberg. he will join anderson cooper tonight. sharp at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

iran's image in the western world, sponsors terrorism and on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon, but my next guests, former state department employee, have serious questions about those very premises. they just returned from iran last week, and they say there is a big disconnect between western coverage of iran and the reality on the ground of iran. they say iran is not trying to

acquire a weapon, and that the last 30 years of sanctions against that country have not forced the iranian government to make any concessions. joining me now, hillary mann leverette, and flint leverette, former members of the state department under presidents, both george w. bush and bill clinton. why do you make these assertions coming back from iran? did you have high-level meetings in which you were privy to information our state department is not privy to? >> well, we met with a range of people. we met with people from the government but students at the university. we were actually invited by the university of tehran. we met with students, professors. we met with a range of people in iran, and what we come back with is a sense that walking in the streets of tehran, going to the university, going into the marketplace, this is not a country that is on the brink of implosion, that sanctions are somehow going to cripple and

force it to concede to american or any other demands. and this is something that when we did the research for our book, we found historically, we have seen american so-called iran experts predict literally since the founding of the republic of iran back in 1979, that this political order is on the brink of implosion or regime change. this is something coming back from our most recent trip to iran. just reinforced our research that that is not the case. for 32 years -- more than 32 years they've defied these western predictions of collapse. >> isn't it possible, though, that you're seeing this now, because after their spring, their arab spring, they suffered horrifically at the hands of their government and are quiet because of it. it was literally their fists that crushed that. isn't that possible? >> there were protests in firn and there have been periodically over the course of the existence of the republic of iran

islamist. none of this will throwed the implosion of the system. it fed into that somehow iran was the start of the arab spring. this is a logic defying proposition. as we see throughout the middle east, the force are for change in the middle east, are forces to draw for islamists to come into governance. for there to be more of an islamiislam ist order throughout the middle east. but we constantly hear from american experts these same forces pushing for islamist political governance in egypt, libya, tunisia, throughout the middle east, are going to somehow push for a secular political order to take over in the islamist republic of iran. there is a basic disconnect in terms of how most americans are shown what happens in the middle east and particularly in the islamist republic. >> i should specify. we always say the arab spring. this would be the persian spring but one of the starts to these movements that took hold quickly and seemed to disappear almost as quickly as it appeared.

i want to ask about sanctions. when you say the sanctions are meaneringless, there are plenty of exemptions of sanctions in the past that have been very meaningful and actually effectuated change. why do you feel this isn't working when so many say it is quite successful? >> i think the people who say it's quite successful i would wager are not people who have walked around in the streets of tehran over the last six weeks. there's no way you could do that, talk to a range of iranians and think this is going to bring about the collapse of the iranian economy or the surrender of their government. we're not saying sanctions are meaneringless. they are imposing various types of hardships on people in iran, but they are not having the kind of strategic effect that proponents of them here say that they will have, and i would say historically, there's no real example of a case where sanctions organized and

instituted by the united states have led either to the overthrow of a government we didn't like or led it basically to surrender our our policy demands. we impose sanctions on iraq for more than a decade. killed more than 1 million iraqis in the process, half of them children, and the iraqi people didn't rise up to overthrow saddam. they didn't you know, change iraqi policies. it took a disastrous u.s. invasion in 2003 to do that. sanctions are not going to have the effect that people are being promised that they'll have here. >> i could talk to you both for hours. we didn't even scratch the surface of the nuclear capabilities and the allegations made against iran on that front, but hillary and flint, thank you so much, and it should make for interesting reading. appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. another controversial story coming to us out of belgium. we want to bring it to you involving two twin brother, both

shoemakers, and both deciding that they had had it with living. when they found out they were going blind, they decided they wanted to die, and belgium lawmakers said they had the right to do so with help. we'll let you know what the next step was. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th,

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45-year-old belgium twins get a devastating medical diagnosis. one that they feel they can't live with. so they decide they want to be euthanized, and doctors did it. that decision is raising a lot of legal questions, and moral questions. cnn's jonathan mann has the story. >> reporter: eddie and mark, identical twins, inaccept flab life and in death. the belgium brothers lived together in a village near antwerp already born deaf, they found out 18 months ago they were slowly going blind. suffering from a genetic form of glaucoma. >> translator: their physical condition was rapidly deteriorating and increasingly dependent of their parents and were afraid they would die before their parents. they didn't want to end up being alone. >> reporter: in all likelihood, in an institution. the 45-year-old twins communicated with each other

using sign language. the thought of losing their sight with no way to converse was too much. after talking to several sigh kik trysts they sought legal permission to be euthanized. an option their parents initially recysted. a anybody says she understands the decision. >> translator: i think it is good. if you don't have anything else anymore in life, if you can't see, can't hear and can't speak what else can you do? and they both had it. >> reporter: despite the fact their illness was not terminal, after a lengthy search for a willing doctor, the request was granted. by then they had their family's support, and on december 14th, doctors at a hospital in brussels gave both men a lethal injection. the doctor who oversaw the euthanasia says it was a weight off the brothers shoulders. >> translator: they were happy and cheerful. we had coffee in the cafeteria and everything went well. finally they spoke to the hospital chaplain, which meant a lot to them. it was helpful and reassuring.

they said good-bye to their parents and their brother and waved at us and that was the end of it. >> reporter: belgium is one of a handful of countries where euthanasia is legal, but the twins case re-ignited debate over whether it really should be. >> jonathan mann joins us live from atlanta. jonathan, this is just such a perplexing story. blindness aside, these twins had no other ailment seemingly. their health was fine, and yet legally this was allowed to be carried out? >> reporter: absolutely right. they weren't in pain and had long years ahead of them, but under belgium law, severe psychological suffering is enough to justify a doctor's decision, if they want to make that decision, to help patients commit suicide, and that's, in fact, what happened. and to make a point, they couldn't hear. they were losing their sight. but they used sign language as deaf people, as blind-deaf

people and there are terns of thousands of them in the united states. they could have used tactile forms of sign language. it really was a very particular decision and not one that agrees with people's instincts about right and wrong. >> you alluded to it, that the doctors agreed. is that a moral decision the doctors have to make there? or are they required to do as they're asked by the citizenry? >> reporter: there is a law in belgium and it basically says when people are in profound suffering. they don't necessarily have to be suffering from a terminal disease, but when suffering in a profound way some something that's incurable, doctors can decide to exceed to their wish, and 1,000 people did it it in the year 2011, our last year for statistics. this happens enday in belgium. every year. it's basically an opportunity that belgium accords its citizens that in some circumstances, in most circumstances, goes to people with terminal diseases. people who knee they are dying of cancer, for example. for some smaller number, it's for people we degenerative

neurological diseases. people who fear they're losing their sense, losing control of their lives. this is just a very extraordinary example. >> such a sad, sad story. jonathan mann, thank you. fascinating. thank you for that. reporting for us live. besides belgium, the netherlands, lux emburg also legalized euthanasia. in switzerland, assisted suicide, not urnlg naish hsia. the difference, in assisted suicide doctors help their patients to end their lives. and they don't directly carry out the procedure, but in euthanasia, they directly helped carry that out. it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors

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president obama faces tough national security challenges over the next four years. guarding against plots by terrorist groups certainly a top priority for the president, but the u.s. also faces the possibility of cyber attacks. attacks that could really disrupt communication and banking and transportation, and our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence has an in-depth look into those threats to national security. >> reporter: terror risks are emotionalizing in mali, which could become the next launching pad for plots against america. a new challenge for national security. keep us safe. sounds simple. but over the next four years,

america's security could be tested in complex ways. forget the wold care. not even a centralized al qaeda in one country. >> there are still tariearrorisn hard to reach countries planning attacks against us. >> reporter: mali and somali, hoping they don't sfwurn the safehavens al qaeda had. but outside afghanistan, the obama administration has been hesitant to put more boots on the ground. so they'll continue to rely heavily on drones. >> predators and reapers are the signature weapon of the war against al qaeda. >> reporter: president bush launched the first wave of drone strikes, mostly targeting al qaeda leaders in pakistan. then president obama took office and increased the number of targets. he expanded the program into yemen, where al qaeda was planning attacks on the u.s. and sboob lawless somalia. the pentagon and cia have been

working together in those areas. over the next four year, officials want to specifically grow the partnership between intel and special operations forces. >> it is central to our ability to solve our most pressing national security challenges. >> reporter: perhaps the most pressing, a cyber attack that instruments communication, transportation and vital services across multiple states. >> these kinds of attacks could be a cyber pearl harbor. an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life. >> reporter: it may not even be physical destruction, but fiscal, bank accounts cleaned out. experts say the obama administration needs to do more work with the private sector to defend vulnerable american companies. >> what we need to worry about are either the terrorist suddenly becoming interested, because it's not that hard, or

some of the nation states that are less responsible, like iran, deciding it's time to play a little more aggressively. >> reporter: the president's former national security adviser says right now there's no real punishment for cyber attacks. >> but ultimately we're going to have to have sanctions that are effective and some consequences that are meaningful, and some ways, ultimately, to counter those technologies. >> reporter: in fact, the u.s. government took the first step down that road when defense secretary leon panetta indicated that the u.s. military would have the right to launch a pre-emptive military strike, if it detected that a major cyber attack was imminent. chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. a reputed mobster is gunned down in front of a restaurant in what looks like a contract killing, and this is no scene from the "godfather." it's real and it just happened in moscow. we've got the details.

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russian investigators are searching for the assassin who gunned down a reputed mob boss outside of a restaurant in moscow. authorities say aslan was shot once in the neck, in what appears to be a contract killing. according to state-run media, he controlled organized crime

groups in moscow and right across russia. he had survived two previous assassination attempts, not this one, though. a restaurant worker wounded in the shooting is now said to be in critical condition. that's it for me, and "cnn newsroom" continues, however, with my colleague suzanne malveaux. ashleigh, suzanne mag vlvea. getting right to it. americans are being held by islamist extremists at an oil field run by bp. >> it is our understanding there are americans involved, but i would say a couple of things. one, we condemn in the strongest terms a terrorist attack on bp personnel and facilities in algeria, and we are closely monitoring the situation. we are in contact with algerian authorities and our international partners as well as with bp's security office in london. unfortunately, the best information we have at this t e

time, as i said, indicates that u.s. citizens are among the hostages, but we don't have, at this point, more details to provide to you. we're certainly concerned about reports of loss of life, and are seeking clarity from the government of algeria. >> we are actually getting reports now that some of those hostages have been freed. this is an operation by the algerian army, and the operation is said to be going on right now as we speak. live to the pentagon. barbara starr is joining us. barbara, first, tell us what we know about the rescue operation and were there americans an mong those who were freed? >> reporter: at this point, no specifics about the rescue operation, suzanne. it is believed four hostages were freed, two british citizens, a kenyan and a french citizen. perhaps nothing addresses the issue of the uncertainty about all of this more than the question of how many americans may at this moment be hostages in all of this. defense secretary leon panetta earlier today put it in the

ballbark of seven american, but i must tell you, we are hearing from other government officials. they believe it's more in the realm of perhaps three american hostages. so lots of uncertainty, and let's be very clear. no one wants to be too specific at this point for security reasons about exactly who's being held and from what countries. but that algerian security operation is ongoing. we are told the algerians surrounded this facility the last several hours. for them, this is a classic hostage situation they're dealing with. they've surrounded it. nobody in, nobody out, and they are trying to resolve this, and the u.s. is letting the algerians certainly take the lead. it is their country. suzanne? >> i have a couple of questions, barbara. first of all, do we know the conditions of the hostages who are still being held, and do we know the condition of the hostages who have been freed? >> reporter: well, there have been reports that there was -- in addition, there was another man reported to be freed.

an irish citizen. he's been in contact with his family. we are understanding that. for those being held,y can only imagine it's fairly grim conditions. this is a remote facility deep in the algerian desert. very tough situation for any time of rescue to be mounted. all indications are that the attackers may have had this fairly well planned, equipped with ac 47s, rocket pro pepped grenades and officials tell us there are suicide vests involved that they believe at this point that the attackers went in with suicide vests and may have even put them on some of the hostages, but i must emphasize, these are all the reports we're getting. until this is resolved, very little firsthand information. >> all right, barbara, when you have more details we'll come back to you. i want to talk more about this. this kidnapping in algeria is part of a broader north african crisis. militants claim they are

retaliating after nigeria's government alloweds airspace to be used by the french for attacks in neighbors mali. the militants are demanding safe passage to libya. bringing on fran townsend vee eye skype from new york. fran, first of all, what does it sound like to you? what kind of organization or group is involved when you hear barbara starr talking about they've got suicide vests potentially strapped to themselves and now perhaps put on these hostages? >> well i think, suzanne, we ought to put it in a broader context of the northern african extremist problem going on, certainly, for a decade, and going on two, frankly, right now. the border between mali and oratanya, remote. the al qaeda affiliated elements have been there going back to the time of the bush administration where we, would go with north african services, military and intelligence, to

try and interrupt their activity. their training, their arming. move forward. there is -- that they, then, affiliated themselves with al qaeda and the islamic maghreb. awe gro all groups we've heard of but this is the cauldron of extremism among north africa. algeria is no novice to these problems. they've had confrontations with these extremists before, so they're very well equipped. they understand the capability. we shouldn't be surprised that the algerians have taken quick action be in response to the hostage crisis. i will tell you that's counterintuitive to the way western and american forces behave. you'll know when we have a hostage crisis we tend to then do a lot of intelligence and surveillance gathering to support planning. we engage hostage negotiators. right now i've confirmed with a source that the fbi is directly involved. often times that means that they will detail to the american military command taking the lead. here it would be africon,

hostage negotiators to plan. in the first instance, we don't generally launch a military offensive. >> sure. >> we'll work closely with the algerians. as barbara said, this is their territory, but we will want to work very closely with them to ensure the safety and the safe passage and retrieval of our hostages. >> fran, being someone who's very experienced in the bush administration regarding national security measures is there a lot of confidence in the algerian government and military that they are a reliable partner to get this done? get the americans freed? >> well, i will tell you, i think they are certainly capable. we use -- it's what i was referring to, suzanne. we tend to take a different approach in terms of, we won't go rushing in, right? for fear we will cause the bad guys to inflict harm on the hostages. it's not clear what the situation is. i think jay carney at the white house during the briefing said they're seeking information from the algerians. what is the nature of the

operation? if it's a cordon, based on the pri perimeter, that's one thing. if they're actually inside the compound engaging the extremists, we worry about the condition of our hostages and the other hostages there. >> time is of the essence. they have been held for at least 24 hours now. do we have a sense as time ticks on the condition of how those people are being held? >> i don't think we do. look, what you normally do is, you not only employ sort of overhead and satellite imagery, but that doesn't really give you the soort of information you're talking about. we'll have to rely on the algerians. we'll have to rely on human intelligence. the algerian intelligence services are very capable. so we'll look to see if they have in intelligence or from our, the neighboring services. namely the moroccans, libyans who can provide the kind of insight what may be going on inside the compound. >> fran townsend, thank you. appreciate it. one of the most promising

young football stars in the america says he is now the victim of a sick joke. talking about manti te'o superback linebacker for motor dame. two stories. a 2k3wiathlete on the feeield. a tragedy off the field. people are scratching their heads wondering what is going on? here's cnn's ted rowlands. >> reporter: university of notre dame athletic director jack swarbrick fought back tears while discussing manti te'o at a late news conference, convinced te'o was the victim of an elaborate hoax. >> that the single, most trusting human being i've ever met will never be able to trust in the same way again in this life. >> reporter: during the football season, the story of the star linebacker enduring the death of his girlfriend and grandmother on the same day transended

sports. people from around the world were touched by how in love te'o seemed to be with len anyway kekua. the girl he copper called his soul mate. >> i cried. i yelled. never felt that way before. this is six hours ago, i just found my grandma passed away, and you take the love of my life. >> reporter: on the day of his girlfriend's supposed funeral, te'o played football. after the game, notre dame's football coach, brian kelly, actually awarded the game ball to the girl we now know doesn't exist. >> i want to award this game ball to len anyway. lennay, and i want manti to have this ball to take back to hawaii. >> reporter: te'o told his coaches about the hoax on december 26th. notre dame kept the truth under wraps, despite the fact that the media was still telling the story leading unto the national championship game. >> from the outset, we

established a parameter that this was manti's story to tell. we wanted to know it would be told, we wanted to know at the proper time when it would be told, but that it was his to tell. >> reporter: many people, including one of the reporters that broke the hoax story doesn't think te'o's story adds up. >> te'o's story that he's a completely innocent in this doesn't really shake through with us. >> reporter: what still isn't clear is why didn't manti te'o ever mentioned he'd never actually met lennay when talking about how much he loved her? how did the story about how they it first met at a football game start, and if it wasn't true, why didn't he correct it? and how could he have been so in love with someone he'd never actually met face to face? >> you know, i think as manti tells the story, you'll see the same thing i saw. that it does fully line up. >> just a few minutes ago we talked to a sports editor and columnist who floated the idea possibly manti te'o was somehow

involved in creating the hoax and keeping it alive. >> i'm tempted to say that this is somebody who probably needs a great deal of therapy. i mean, it's very difficult, actually. hon honestly, a little sickening and upsetting to hear the interviews that he did. i was going back into the audio vault last night listening to interviews he gave about her. e would have to accept that he would have a three-year relationship where he was in love with a woman who didn't exist and nursed theirs virtual woman through leukemia. through first of all a devastating car accident where they discovered she had leukemia, stories were told about how they would stay on the phone with each other for eight straight hours while he would sleep so she could hear his breathe, because it eased her pain. >> all right. so the one thing that we can hope for is clarity. that's going to happen later, possibly later this after. manti te'o is expected to address the media. he's going to give his version of this so-called phony girlfriend mystery. and serve debating about it.

cnn.com is all over the story. some of the comments you guys are bringing in here. garnering sympathy for the heisman vote. really? i think the kid got punk'd raymond writes, so he made up a girlfriend. i work in a middle school. most of the boys here have made up girl friends, too. and how about this? this is kind of like when jan brady dated george glass on "the brady bunch." what we're working on as well for this hour -- europe, japan, qatar, india and the united states now grounding boeing's dreamliner. the airlines are scrambling to reang rearrange flights a huge job, protecting the president and hundreds of thousands. we are looking at security measures for monday's inauguration. and vice president biden making his case for the newly outlined gun policy proposals, trying to drum up support for the u.s. conference of mayors. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

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countries around the world are following the lead of the united states and japan. they are grounding all boeing 787 dreamliners. the faa is saying these dreamliners are not going to be allowed in the air until you fix these problems. these fires linked to battery failures. the investigation, this could take several weeks. a look at all the airlines around the world pulling the 787s from service. last night boeing issued a statement saying in part, "we are confident the 787 is safer and stand behind its overall integrity and will take every necessary step in the coming days to ensure our safety of customers and crew." >> reaction to the safety statement. >> safety speaks to levels of

redundancy. so i am completely comfortable. yes, the airplane is safe because i am very comfortable boeing knows what it's doing, has spent many years in t redundancy of all of these departments. what is unclear what is the root cause? that's what makes it difficult. as far as passengers go, even though we could, conversationally, we could get to passenger aversion issues, but statistics show passengers really don't know the aircraft type they're flying on. when they show up at the gate, they're unlikely to walk away from that flight and will take confidence that if the airplane is there, the airline and the faa rendered this aircraft safe. >> investors aren't as confident. losing stock after yesterday. sandra endo joins us. talk about this. it's happened since september, but you've got a problem with the batteries that is really causing these officials to ground the planes. explain the technology is behind this.

>> well, suzanne, definitely new technology. lithium ion batteries have never been used before in commercial airlines to this extenextent, te lighter, powerful, but the concern is over possible overheating. boeing had to get special permission from the faa to use these batteries, and they were only approved under the condition it would install specific safety measures to address these potential problems. so clearly, they are going to revisit and look at these batteries to see if they were installed correctly, and if everything is okay and safe. suzanne? >> i know they got more, 800 more orders for these dreamliners. does that still go through? >> yeah. it's unclear at this point what happens to those 800 aircraft that are on ord but clearly right now it's too soon to tell. keep in mind, this is a big expenditure for any airline. each aircraft costs $200 million each. >> do we think -- should we are worried about flying on these

planes? bottom line? >> that is the biggest question here, because, clearly, every aviation expert we've spoken to, you heard it right there just before, talking with me, they say these are just the normal teething problems that happen when a new aircraft is really unveil and delivered, and even last week the transportation secretary, ray la hood, said he thinks the planes are safer and would actually fly on one, but obviously, the faa is clearly changing its tune ordering this directive, which hasn't been seen since 1979, the grounding of an entire fleet of kraaircra. >> teething problems, interesting way to tut it. thank you very much. the vice president is making a case speaking to the conference of mayors today. gun, top of the agenda. a live report.

preparing for the next four years of the obama administration. one of the big issues is reducing the demand for legal drugs in this country. john zarrella, reporting on what to expect going forward. >> reporter: with america's use of illicit drugs continuing to rise, the challenge -- what's the best way to curb it? clarence jackson started smoking pot when he was 14. he says he quickly graduated to coke, crime and then prison. >> i've been in prison every consecutive year of my life since 1989 until 2009. >> reporter: 20 years in and out of florida jails and prisons. jackson is now in court-ordered group counseling. >> you know how selfish it is? everybody around you hurt when you get locked up. even your dog. that sounds silly. even your dog. >> reporter: guy wheeler runs the program, 12 to 24 sessions

for first-time offenders, the gold ring upon completion, a cleansed record. jackson laments if only this program weral there for him 20 years ago. >> i wouldn't have been a liability. i would have been a great asset to society. >> reporter: could be the poster boy for a philosophical change how the u.s. is dealing with illicit drug use. not just a crime, but addiction. >> it shouldn't come as a surprise if we've arrested someone for a crime and they also have a drug problem, and we do nothing about the drug problem, that they're going to end up right back into the system again committing another crime. >> reporter: for the white house now and going forward, fighting illicit drug use is a multilayered approach. a focus on education and prevention. treat drugs and addiction as a public health issue not just a criminal justice concern. and law enforcement focuses remains on choking off supply. studies by the national institute on drug abuse so the

road ahead is tough. illicit drug use in america, kreemping up. 22.5 american, 8.7%, used or abused illicit drug fls 2011. up 0.4% in a decade. most comes from marijuana use. the drug of choice for teens. >> the one particular thing that worries me the most is the youth use of marijuana. study after study shows that it can have a number of significant health and mental health impacts, particularly on developing young people. >> reporter: says guy wheeler, it's not your father's marijuana. the main psycho active ingredient, thc, is at least twice as high as in the old days. >> we keep thinking marijuana is like 3%. 5%. the population i'm serving every day, the mrijuana has a rate of 25%. they call it wake and bake. some of these clients wake up every morning and go smoke a joint. >> reporter: one of the pillars, curb use before it becomes

abuse. dr. daniel alford is part of a program doing just that. >> eventually it becomes very much like a relapsing crack disease. >> reporter: asking patients about substance abuse, provide advice and if necessary a treatment referral. alford says 80% have not problem. stupdies show those who do are receptive to the intervention, because it comes from their doctor. >> so if you ask in a non-judgmental way if you're asking just to take good care of them, i think people are more likely to be open about it and honest about it. >> reporter: experts say the benefits from early intervention treatment education are huge. more productive workers, few people behind bars. reduced medical costs and maybe it gives people like clarence jackson very simply a chance. john zarrella, cnn, miami. vice president biden making his case for the newly outlined gun policy proposals, trying to drum up support that the u.s.

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president obama is expected to name his close aide denis mcdonough as his new chief of staff. replacing jack lew nominated to be the next treasury secretary. mcdone nah would be the president's fourth chief of staff since taking office back in 2009. vice president biden talking gun control with the countries mayors speaking at the u.s. conference of mayors winter meeting happening in washington right now. it is set to be begin and he's expected to talk about the new proposals we actually saw. the gun violence you veiled yesterday. we want to bring in white house correspondent brianna keilar and the white house trying to build

a case here to support the new gun regulations. what kind of response do we think we'll get from some of the mayors? you've got folks from chicago, from washington, d.c. who have some tough neighborhoods to police. >> reporter: right, and from all over the u.s. with disparate views, i will say, suzanne. philadelphia mayor nut hear bte been talking and just told this crowd the right to own a firearm should not interfere with his right to live. for someone like mayor nutter or mayor michael bloomberg from new york city, especially the bigger city mayors dealing and have for some time. >> now with gun violence, president obama, vice president biden, are getting a ton of support on their new recommendations for how to tackle gun violence. they're definitely finding allies in these folks and yet there are other mayors who are not going to support this, they're on the opposite side of this issue, but this is part of

the white house effort to kind of look to the grass roots, we expect. although it's not confirmed president obama will likely take his gun violence message answered vice president as well, on the road, trying to rally grass roots support. we haereard from the president, yesterday, the only way to denounce this, for the people to demand it. including tracking stolen guns, prosecuting folks who use them. improving background checks to include mental health, making agencies share that information, increasing mental health resources in schools, but, really, the big things to be done on gun violence from the perspective of the white house are things congress would need to do. an assault weapons ban, banning those high-count magazines, high-capacity magazines and including university background checks, which, perhaps, may be the one thing, it seems, politically that congress can tackle, but i will tell you, suzanne, even now, just a little

over a month since the shooting in newtown, you're already sensing that politically the will to get something done has started to dry up here in washington. and not just among republicans. also some democrats who are moretowards the center. >> all right. brianna, we mentioned, more than 270 mayors around the country are attending this conference with the vice president speaking now and the gun control debate is one of the issues on the agenda. the mayors are also focusing on the nation's debt as well as unemployment and jobs, and besides the vice president, other speakers today including the education secretary, arne duncan, and rapper mc hammer performing. watching here, this is mayor nutter that we had mentioned before out of philadelphia. he is speaking before the conference. and when president obama took office four years ago, of course, what was the mood? well, the inauguration, it was jubilant, but going into a second term he's facing a much harder road. atlanta's mayor is joining us to talk about those challenges.

i think the main mission of what we're trying to dos in our lab, drag psychology kicking and screaming into the 21st century. >> a wimped of the virtual world. >> we're sort of like the unique alliance of hollywood, the military and academia. >> also a chief combatant in u.s. military's battle against post-traumatic stress disorder. ptsd. >> it's not unique to combat, but for veterans what it's become one of the signature woods of iraq and afghanistan. >> skip rizzo. he first graped headlines back in 2006 with his virtual reality ptsd therapy for vets. today he's getting in front of the problem with strive. my colleague chris lawrence got a first look. >> i want to prepare people to deal with stress better. if that doesn't work out, help them fight through the challenges in the aftermath of stress.

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president obama takes the oath of office monday on a bible that belonged to abraham lincoln and one that belonged to martin luther king jr. it takes place on the holiday honoring the reverend king. after the symbolism, the ceremonies, celebrations and of course the president beginning a second term facing some challenges from the first four years. joining us, atlanta's mayor talking about what's ahead. you are one of the insiders now. anything, you put in the time, the work, were you in iowa, across the country. anything that you learned about the president that surprised you? >> that surprised me? no. he was as tough as i thought, and i think that -- i think he was going to do what was necessary to win, and i think that he wants to be president. very much. i think he loves being president. >> what gives you that impression? >> because i know how tough this campaign was, and i know that there were moments in the campaign where if he did not

really want this job, he could have fallen apart, and he was central to holding the campaign together during very tough times. >> looking forward, what do you think one of the things is that he is going to really have to excel in? because there was so much excitement four years ago and so many people in love with him and now the bar's a lot higher? >> yes. i think that the president's going to have to spend more time than he typically would with members of congress and other people. top galvanize and maintain public support. i think during the first term, because of the incredible demands involved in preventing the economy from going into a great depression got a lot of leeway in terms of not spending personal time with member, leaders, both elected and non-elected, not opening up the white house. yop think he'll be able to do that and maintain his coalition over the next four years and i think that's going to require a

lot of growth on his part. >> do you think it was legitimate, the criticism, even the suggestions he got, look, you've got to reach out more, even to people you don't like or agree with? >> some of it was legitimate, but what i don't think that people gave a fair amount of discussion to was the out-sized amount of venom direct the at this president. and i don't think that people had a real sense of just how bad things were in america. and i think that the president intentionally did not want to convey how terrible things were. because fundamentally, he's an optimist and the a pragmatist. so he really wouldn't walk around and describe to you, except in very rare times, how terrible things were and how close the country was of really having the economic system seize up. how close the country was -- >> did he ever discuss this with you? >> oh, sure. we had a meeting in the white

house, in the white house with a small group of governors and mayors. during the teeth of the tough times around the health care battle. where he would describe just how terrible things were. there was a meeting with valerie jarrett, tim geithner was in there room on that day, and he was describing in detail how close we were to having the economy literally seize up, and that if certain things had not been done, we could have been in a position where folks went to the atm and couldn't get cash out. and so i think that the president should be cut some slack regard to the amount of time that he spent with folks like me and others. i don't think he'll be able to do that in the second term. >> what does he really want to do? what is important to the president? you know him well. what is in his heart? >> the president is focused on fundamental fairness. if you look at everything that he has been focused on since his re-election, his concentration has been trying to bring fairness back to the country.

i think the president feels very passionately that over the last ten years under president bush that the deck got stacked against ordinary folks. and that the interests of the most blessed were really placed above everybody else, and when you look at what he has done position by position, the fights that is fighting are for ordinary people to have a shot. >> what is his greatest challenge going forward? what is personally going to be difficult for him, as a leader who is still growing? >> i think his greatest challenge is going to be the republican leadership's failure to deal with their loss. >> but his -- his -- looking inside himself, what does he feel like he can improve on? >> i don't know. i don't know the answer to that. i think that this outreach, this determined dialogue, reaching out to people and expanding the

conversation, expanding the number of people who give him advice and input is going to require the most growth from him. because i think that he's most happy with people that he's very comfortable with, who he trusts and who he's -- he's now been through two incredible battles with a very core group of people who he values and trusts. stepping outside of that circle after you had the success that this president has had, i think it's going to require a great deal of growth, suzanne. >> one thing that a lot of people are looking at, is the cabinet, and how the cabinet looks. you've got top positions, you're talking secretary of state, defense, cia, chief of staff, all white men. there are not a lot of positions left for african-americans, hispanics and women? >> yeah. well, you know, i don't push back on that a bit. i mean, i think when you look throughout the administration, the administration's quite diverse, but i think the president has heard the concern around diversity loud and clear. and i think that you're going to see him responding to that over

the next few days. >> maybe you'll be one of those guys? >> no. i'm going to be mayor of atlanta. hopefully he'll let me come back here. >> you're always welcome. >> thank you. good news in the war against cancer. a step such as getting rid of the cigarettes, helping decrease the risk. what else should we be doing jb we look at the answer, up ahead. but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients...

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the american cancer society says the overall death rate in the u.s. declined 20% over the last 20 or so years. the report says that the deaths are 1.1 million people william avoided because of this war on cancer. i want to bring in dr. otis brawley, chief medical officer the american cancer society, and doctor brawley, thank you so much for being here, for good news. >> yes. >> not often we hear good news when we talk about cancer. give us the statistics. why the decrease here? >> the decrease has occurred over the last 20 years primarily because people stopped smoking or people decided not to start smoking. secondarily, some of our early detection messages actually do save lives, and people have been listening to them. and then we've had tremendous improvements in our treatment for cancer. research really has given us some answers, and we're actually able to save some lives to prevent some people from dying from cancer. >> are people, are there more people essentially who are living with cancer who, say, back in the peak of the cancer

epidemic, if you will, back in the '90s, who are now able to carry on, who would have passed away? >> yes, absolutely. there is a group of people for whom cancer has become very much like other diseases like diabetes. they live with them. they still have cancer, not cured but are able to go to work, function, able to do regular activities of daily living while they still have cancer. then there's a group of people who have cancer and some of our treatments are curing them. >> i want to bring up this statistic. a 20% decline in cancer deaths. very good. stats say that more than 1.5 million new cancer cases are going to develop this year, leading to 500 -- more than 500,000 deaths. is there something we can be doing to even help better, to lower that number? >> yes, absolutely. the study shows that we're doing good, and we're making progress, but the study also shows we can make more progress. we can do much better. if we simply start doing many of the things we all know that we

should be doing, then we'd actually save even more lives. >> like what, for instance? >> 20% of americans are still smoking. we need to stop smoking. obesity epidemic, actually pushing these numbers up. obesity causes at least 12 different kinds of cancer. and if we just got people to start doing a little built more exercise, motd phiing their diet, decreasing caloric intake we could actually save more lives. >> sounds simple but it's so, so hard for a lot of people. how did we compare sto other countries around the world? >> we are actually unfortunately the 33rd country for a drop's in mortality. all of these beautiful amazing american medicine but are not applying the things we simply know we ought to apply or not applying them to the entire population. we have data to show the 20% to 30% of women with brefrt cancer get tles han optimal care. we can improve the coordination

of the care that people are getting in the united states, and we, of course, need to focus mo on prevention of disease. >> all right. we're going to focus on the good message. the good news out of today, and, of course, continue to take care of ourselves and encourage others to do the same. doctor, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> all right. well, some call it minor security glitch that would cause major problems in the inauguration. we're taking a closer look at what is being done to keep everybody safe. schwab bank was built with all the value and convenience tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors want. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like no atm fees, worldwide. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and no nuisance fees. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus deposit checks with mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and manage your cash and investments tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab's mobile app. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 no wonder schwab bank has grown to over 70 billion in assets. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so if you're looking for a bank that's in your corner, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 not just on the corner... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit to start banking with schwab bank today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

monday, inauguration day, meaners washington is about three things now. talking planning, choreography and, of course, security. the people in charge ofsecurity. the people in charge of the president's safety knows it takes one glitch to turn the big day into a big mess. >> joe hagan remembers his first jolt working security. january 2001 when george w. bush's swearing in. he was in a motorcade moving towards the white house. >> turned down pennsylvania avenue and the military aide in the right front seat of the car turned around and said there is a gas mask under your seat. get ready to put it on. that's a little startling. >> that was to prevent the possible tear gassing of protesters. >> the deputy chief of staff under president bush coordinated

big event like summits and trips to war zones and inaugurations. as we look, the secret service, the lead security service for the inauguration make sure the buildings are clear of potential snipers. manhole covers will be welded shut and s.w.a.t. teams will be all over the city. plain clothes officers in the crowds. bomb-sniffing dogs and teams trained on weapon was mass destruction. >> our dive team and intelligence analysts will be working around the clock and hostage negotiators. >> the fbi official spoke to us where security teams will do realtime monitoring of cameras posted on buildings and roads. they will share tips andens dent reports. >> worry tip points and other precautions, it's this stage, the parade route along pennsylvania avenue where the unknown comes in.

it's often along here where the president gets out of his car. the president is most exposed and the crowds are massive. >> if he's in this area and walks, what's going through your mind? >> what's going through my mind is having faith in the plan and assuming that the agents are doing their job. >> hagen said the secret service choreographs where the president gets out of his limo and where he gets back in. a tightly held secret. when it's over, a big sigh of relief. >> it takes hundreds of thousands of people to execute effectively. those people tend to not have a lot of fun. >> no matter how smoothly the day goes, security officials will still conduct a thorough review after the event so they can tweak their practices for the next time. >> brian is joining us from washington. one of the things that makes you nervous is when you see them

coming down pennsylvania avenue out of the vehicles and everybody is just kind of a little bit on pins and needles. they are excited, but we get nervous when we see that. i imagine security feels the same way. >> they do. anybody who has been involved in that has a little gasp when that happens in anticipation. one thing that joe hagen pointed out is the secret service choreographs that. they plan it very carefully when he will get out and in and they have officers crawling all over the area. still, it's a massive crowd and you are exacting with people. anything can happen. >> do have a sense of the numbers of folks out there in charge of the president's security? >> the overall numbers, those are tough to get at. we know this is from the d.c. police. 2,000 officers from 86 jurisdictions are coming in from

out of town. that's just people from out of town. law enforcement and d.c. has about 4,000 police officers. most will be working that day. that doesn't count the capitol hill police and the park police and the secret service. they are coming in from out of town. there won't be more law enforcement than people in the crowd, but it's close. >> i will see you as you cover the inauguration. >> the weather in the south has been mild, but that's about to change. where the snow is starting to fall. ation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option:

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. >> in the deep south, you are talking about snow, sleet, temperatures bringing no to mid-atlantic states as well. chad meyers who is taking a look at all of this. >> snowing in tuscaloosa and birmingham. places that don't have the equipment to get rid of it. temperatures are above 32 in most spots. after dark tonight, if you have snow on the ground, it's wet and gets cold enough to freeze. that's the cutoff. things get cold enough or you see the snow in birmingham. snow in atlanta, but this is not a panic situation. most it snow in the city. the rain is now still in atlanta and temperatures around 50.

the snow comes in late tonight. a dusting at the very, very end of the storm. washington, d.c. sees rainfall and starting to cool down the atmosphere. when it cools down enough, that rain turns to snow. same for richmond as well. this entire area from roanoke to north carolina could get a lot of snow. maybe a foot of snow before it stops. here's the rain in d.c. most is still in northern virginia. it's coming to you soon and it will be piling up. three to five inches in northern parts of alabama. here across blairsville and blue ridge, but in the mountains, that's when we start to see snows into raleigh and charlotte and winston salem. into d.c., could see snow in d.c. much more snow on the southside of the city to the north. silver spring compared to northern virginia could be drastic. from one inch to three or four depending on where you a